Planning 3.0 revs up S.D. hoods

Barrio Logan plan spat not stalling other planning updates

Bill Fulton, left, with former Planning Director Bill Anderson and former City Architect and planner, Mike Stepner, at the time of Fulton's appointment in June by then-Mayor Bob Filner.
- Roger Showley

Bill Fulton, left, with former Planning Director Bill Anderson and former City Architect and planner, Mike Stepner, at the time of Fulton's appointment in June by then-Mayor Bob Filner.

The spat over Barrio Logan's community plan, possibly headed for a citywide referendum next year, isn't slowing the replanning of San Diego.

The City Council recently endorsed the revival of the Planning Department and its director, Bill Fulton, is overseeing the updating of 10 other plans with more to follow. And none too soon.

"I really love talking to project planners about what's going on," the former mayor of Ventura said at his makeshift office in the City Operations Building on First Avenue.

With the economy gaining steam and developers dusting off their project plans, Fulton's 125-member staff will have to work doubly fast to make up for lost time since the department was abolished two years ago as a budget move.

The Barrio Logan plan was the first under Fulton's leadership to gain City Council approval in September. But it was immediately challenged by irate shipyard owners, who are hoping to have it rescinded next month or put on the ballot next June.

If it is repealed, Fulton said he hasn't thought how to go about salvaging the parts the community and shipyard industry accept.

In the meantime, there's plenty else for planners to do in what might be called San Diego Planning 3.0.

The department, which dates back to the 1920s, flourished and withered over the decades as the economy rose and fell. In the 1990s it was disbanded, in the 2000s revived, in 2011 abolished again and, at the instigation of former Mayor Bob Filner, brought back to life with his appointment of Fulton, a nationally recognized urban planning expert.

Its formal moniker, "Department of Planning, Neighborhoods and Economic Development," connotes the shift from creating master-planned communities in farflung greenfields in the suburbs to freshening up and densifying urban neighborhoods to handle expected growth in the decades ahead. The citywide general land-use plan envisions creating a "city of villages."

"As we work on infill and transit-oriented development and focus on (transit) station area plans, the design of things, becomes much more important than in a suburban setting," Fulton said. "We have to be extremely sensitive to that."

Councilmen David Alvarez and Kevin Faulconer, the mayoral candidates aiming to succeed Filner, have promised to focus on neighborhoods. Under his new marching orders issued last month, Fulton intends to do that very thing:

Many of the city's 52 community plans need updating and in some cases complete write-throughs. Besides Barrio Logan, 10 are in various stages of completion with the goal of finishing them in 2015.

Urban design will be handled by one or more staffers with an eye to helping developers meet neighbors' expectations.

Economic development will be handled through business improvement districts, infrastructure financing and looking for investment with the help of Civic San Diego, the city's nonprofit arm that oversees downtown and leftover redevelopment projects.

An "urban laboratory," drawing on volunteer architects and city thinkers will launch experiments to see if some chronic neighborhood gripes can be handled more creatively -- such as turning empty lots and parking spaces into temporary parks or replacing front yard parking with plants and putting the cars in angled spaces on the street.

Sustainable development to address global warming involves a citywide climate action plan and a hoped-for grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, which is funding 100 cities world wide to plan for resilience in the face of natural disasters, such as fire, flood and earthquake.

Big ideas, such as holding the Olympics in San Diego in 2024, 2028 or 2032, aren't wistful pipe dreams.

"It holds the potential for being an organizing principle for a lot of planning," Fulton said. "That would be pretty exciting if the region goes ahead" with a formal bid.

The sports area and other businesses occupy more than 40 acres of city-owned land that would be replanned as part of an update to the Midway/Pacific Highway community plan.
— K.C. Alfred

The sports area and other businesses occupy more than 40 acres of city-owned land that would be replanned as part of an update to the Midway/Pacific Highway community plan.
— K.C. Alfred

Community plans update: Who's up first?

Planning Director Bill Fulton and his deputy of long-term planning, Nancy Bragado, brings us up to speed on what's coming up in the months. A new timeline shows that 10 plans are in various stages of rewrite and update with all expected to be done in 2015. As the City Council acts on them, new ones will come to the fore. Other planning efforts also are running in parallel with Fulton's marching orders.

Otay Mesa: Final public hearings on the environmental impact report are coming in December with Planning Commission and City Council action due early in the new year. Big issues: highway infrastructure and funding options; strategies for dealing with vernal pools and other sensitive habitats; new approaches to make sure industry and housing can coexist and not duplicate the mistakes in Barrio Logan.

Ocean Beach: Environmental analysis done in December with commission and council action to follow within roughly three months. Big issues: urban design;, preservation of the funky community character; innovative solutions to park shortages, such as adding picnic benches, children's play areas.

Old Town-Midway/Pacific Highway: Community plan environmental report distributed to public in mid-2014, approval in June 2015, approval third quarter 2015. Big issues: Traffic bottlenecks; reuse options for the sports arena land; possible voter-approval of raising 30-foot height limit to allow a landmark development; privately owned parks accessible to the public.

Grantville: Draft focus plan to be released in January, environmental report in April with final approval in September and commission and council approval by fall 2014. Big issues: transit-oriented development around the elevated trolley station; cleanup section of San Diego River with better public access.

Southeastern San Diego and Encanto: Plan draft to be released in March, environmental draft in July, final review in December with commission and council action in early-2105. Big issues: major infrastructure funding strategy for Southeastern; transit-oriented mixed-use village on 100 acres owned by the city, Metropolitan Transit System and the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (a family foundation different from Qualcomm's Irwin Jacobs various interests).

Uptown-North Park-Greater Golden Hill: Draft plan to be released by February, followed by the draft environmental impact report in August, final review in spring 2015 and commission and council action likely in the following September. Big issues: Density and height revisions to replace an interim height ordinance (prompted by a proposed high-rise in the middle in Hillcrest); preservation of community character while making room for new development along transit corridors, possibly through incentive zoning techniques; boundary adjustments for University Heights. As with all the other plans, public hearings may prompt revisions in the staff draft plans and delay action additional months.

San Ysidro: Draft plan in May, environmental documents in September, final review in March 2015, followed by commission and council action. Big issues: Handling of border traffic around border crossing; creation of a multimodal transportation center; increased density for a border village area; park improvements.

Other plans: (1) A major rewrite of the Mission Valley plan that would take into account rebuilding of Qualcomm Stadium or various redevelopment options; control of runoff from the parking lot into the river; (2) Kearny Mesa and its new role as a transit hub around three major freeways; (3) specific plans for commercial centers in various neighborhoods as a way to accommodate growth while retaining existing community character; (4) citywide infrastructure bond, perhaps exceeding $1 billion, to catch up with deferred maintenance and park, library and other public facility shortfalls; (5) partnership between planning and Civic San Diego, the city's nonprofit redevelopment corporation, to seek private investment and state and federal grants for targeted projects, affordable housing and other items; (6) new Chargers stadium, whether downtown or at its present Mission Valley site, awaits direction of new mayor and formal proposals from the team; (7) new San Diego Unified Port District master plan that will clarify land uses at the marine terminals, set out new development options along Harbor Drive and Pacific Highway and sketch out the future of the North Embarcadero between Seaport Village and Lindbergh Field; (8) future plans for Lindbergh terminals, now that Terminal 2 has been expanded and rental car lots are to be moved to Pacific Highway -- these the domain of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority; (9) citywide parks master plan.